The Automated trash collection program will start in 3 sections of town sometime in November--Poet's Corner, Valimar and Winding Ridge. We have purchased one truck. We're training staff how to use the new vehicle. The new sanitation trucks will save the town significant money, the service will be faster and fewer workers compensation claims will be made by injured public works employees. We funded the purchase of a second truck and will gradually expand the sections of town that will be served by this new vehicle.

The “One-Armed Bandit” refers to the automated refuse collection truck that has the capacity of auto-loading refuse containers three to four times the size of a regular garbage can. It also is capable of making 700 to 1,200 stops per route with a single operator, “all while increasing efficiency for the residents and safety for the operators,” said a report on the system.

Each household that will be served by the new truck will be provided with a free, special 95 gallon container that can be secured by the remote arm on the garbage truck. Smaller 65-gallon containers will be available for senior citizens and residents with disabilities. The containers will be the only acceptable method for trash collection, according to the statement.

The containers are designed to hold normal household trash but not bulk items, hazardous materials, chemicals, poisons, and other harmful materials. Residents who have additional garbage will have to call 993 1574 to schedule a time for bulk pickups.

Space Required

On collection days, residents will place the container in the street and with a space of four feet between the container and parked vehicles, mailbox, trees or other obstacles. The trash truck driver can then safely pick-up and place back the container in the same location. Containers placed less than four feet away from an obstacle won’t be picked up.

Recycling will not be changed. Continue to leave your recyclables out when you normally do.

The collection schedule will be unchanged. Under the automated trash collection program, garbage will be picked up once a week, the same as the current schedule.

The automated trash collection program is expected to provide safer working conditions for employees while cutting the number of work related injuries. There will be no reductions in the workforce other than through retirement. The automated trash collection program has proven to work well in all types of weather including snow and rain and containers can withstand winds of up to 45 miles per hours.

The program is expected to be less costly than the current system where employees manually place the refuse in the rear loading packer trucks.

There will be a one month “learning curve” with “oops” tags and explanatory flyers left at the curb to remind residents who have not properly placed containers. After the first month, containers that are not in compliance or not placed in appropriate locations will not be picked up.

We will provide residents who live in Poet's Corner, Valimar and Winding Ridge with additional information as it gets closer. And will be happy to send a truck to the neighborhoods for a demonstration before we start the program.

PAUL FEINER

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